Scholarly Commentary

Introduction

The so-called A Proofs were pulled from the revised set of the Penkill Proofs
that DGR sent to London on 2 September 1869 (see DGR's letter to WMR, 2 Sptember 1869:
Fredeman, Correspondence
69. 146
).

The A Proofs, printed on 13 September 1869, are the second integral set of
proofs that were prepared for DGR as part of the printing process that would
eventuate in the publication of the
1870
Poems
in April 1870. They comprise Lewis's third Proof State (
Lewis,
Trial Book Fallacy, 186
).

A perfect copy of the A
Proofs—DGR's and then WMR's copy—was sold at
Christie's 29 July 1971 (lot 456). It went into the library of Simon
Nowell-Smith, and from there passed into the collection of Mark Samuels
Lasner. It shows a few printer's corrections. Two partial copies are
preserved in the Princeton/Troxell Collection: copy 1, which is heavily marked up
by DGR; and copy 2, which has many
fewer pages and only some few pencil corrections of the pagination. The two
partial copies represent the remains of two distinct sets of these proofs,
not a scattering of pages from one or two copies.

Along with theA2 Proofs, the A Proofs
comprise a volatile moment in the prepublication sequence of printings. A
and A2 followed quickly one upon the other, and together they represent
DGR's initial revisions to the Penkill
Proofs, which were printed about 18 August. DGR received the A Proofs
on 13 September 1869 and immediately was working on them (see DGR's letter to WMR, 14 September 1869:
Fredeman, Correspondence
69. 154
). He completed his revisions while he was at Penkill, and returned
to London on 20 September. The A2 Proofs, with the additions and
corrections, were pulled about 21 September.

A mixed set of proofs containing pages from the A Proofs, the A2 Proofs, and
the first and second trial books—none of the pages with any
manuscript markings—is housed in the Troxell collection as well.
These proofs are bound into the second volume of the 1901 edition of DGR's
Collected Works.